Despite the technological advances realized in recent years, many traditional business activities still have a prominent place in today's workplaces. One such activity is the meeting or conference. Often, such a collaborative effort will involve a presentation of material by one participant to a number of other participants. Traditional means for presenting information include projection on a screen, display on a monitor or other optically active device, or presentation in hard copy form, such as on a white board, chalkboard or easel. While each of these methods has benefits and drawbacks in terms of cost, complexity, and effectiveness, projection and display are typically best suited for rapidly changing data such as may be presented via slides or video.
In recent years, various communication technologies on the Internet have been created that allow users with common interest to collaborate, share files, and “chat” with one another. Currently, however, most communication on the Internet takes place in a server centric environment whereby all communication flows to or through large central servers to which individuals may connect to join and participate in such communication.
With the reemergence of peer-to-peer technology, the current server centric model of Internet communication is quickly being replaced. Indeed, peer-to-peer technologies enable users to contact one another in a serverless environment, free from the constraints of server based Internet communication. In a peer-to-peer based system, a users anonymity and privacy may be maintained since communication occurs directly between peers within the network. However, while individual communication and file sharing is relatively well established in peer-to-peer networks, establishing, joining, and sharing information real-time in a group peer-to-peer environment is not well established. However, individuals have grown accustomed to the benefits provided by such grouping technology in the server centric environment.